What happens when Synchronicity, Innovation and Joy meet?

SINAL stands for Synchronicity (Sincronismo in Portuguese), Innovation (Inovação) and Joy (Alegria). It’s a living laboratory nestled within the Atlantic Rainforest less than hour outside of the city of Rio de Janeiro. And based upon how my mind and body responded after a month of post Rio+20 field research in Brazil, this experiment in well-being is working. The life force that had been sucked out of me by bad news has been replenished.

photo: rainforest eco

I’ve written of the disillusionment I’d felt while working to create sustainability for organic reforestation of our beloved Mata Atlantica. Here I found a place to dig in, literally, whole-heartedly, and be nourished by like-minded people and organic produce from the food forest. A typical lunch would offer a delicious pot of feijão (black beans), with mountains of bananas, oranges, avocados (with optional raw sugar sprinkles—yes please), chocolate nibs, coconuts and sugar cane for dessert! Had they been in season, we would have had mangos too. Paradise.

photo: rainforest ecophoto: rainforest eco

Alongside of founder Thais Corral, (one of the most inspiring women I know), I met with volunteers from Chile, Argentina, Columbia and the US who came to help establish the organic gardens, and ease into permaculture agroforestry. Everyone’s input, experience and research was respected.

Just as seeds were about to be planted in one of the areas recently cleared of bananas (which were laboriously being moved to a different area, a bit farther from the community dwellings), I put in my two cents worth about checking to see who owned the seed companies they came from. Were they GMO seeds? Chemically treated in any way? We started reading the very fine print.

photo: rainforest eco

One of the volunteers spent the better part of a day online to find out who owned the seed companies, and whatever he could learn about their history. Absolutely fascinating—will be posting his findings soon.

We discovered that only one of the companies whose envelopes we held in our hands was relatively clean, separated all the others for a ritual disposal ceremony, and ordered organic, non-hybrid seeds from a supplier online.

SINAL is currently looking for volunteers who can help as we develop our facilities with systems and practices that will minimize our environmental footprint. Our vision is to contribute to the knowledge of how we, as humanity, can make our transition towards environmental sustainability by simultaneously improving the qualities of our own lives and of our communities. For us, innovation happens when things are implemented in a certain way.

Located 45 minutes outside of Rio de Janeiro in the heart of a lush Mata Atlantica ecosystem (of which only 7% remains), Sinal do Vale is a space where people and group retreats develop skills, methods, and technologies, that can will improve social and environmental conditions whilst also building resilience to climate change.

Volunteers play a key role at Sinal and have the opportunity to engage in a wide range of activities including, but not limited to:

Vegetable Garden: The vegetable gardens are in their early stages and volunteers will help in the process of creating organic produce. Activities include creation of harvestable gardens, clearing land for future gardens, garden maintenance and general upkeep.

Sinal do Vale Beautification: Beautifying the Houses and grounds of Sinal do Vale.

Agroforestry: We are in the process of building a agroforestry component into our work at Sinal. We are looking for volunteers who have experience identifying, mapping, and cataloging Mata Atlantica species.

We believe that in order to be involved with SINAL our volunteers need to have a drive for social change and an understanding of low-income communities’ issues within developing countries. Additionally we require you to be self-motivated, be able to work both independently and as part of a team—whilst also being able to work on your own initiative when needed. Good communication and personal skills are also a requirement.

In return for the volunteer’s hard work we offer food and accommodation. Special diets and needs should be pre-arranged by the volunteers.

To apply please e-mail your CV or resume and a brief cover letter in which you describe why you want to come to help SINAL and what qualities you contribute to the project .

Send to sinalvolunteeringATgmailDOTcom. Please state in the subject line: SINAL volunteer 2012.

Alana Lea is a voice for the rainforest. Born in Rio de Janeiro, Alana moved to the United States as soon as she could walk, and only learned that she emerged from the most diverse and endangered rainforest on earth, as an adult.

She instinctively cultivated a passion for the plant kingdom as a horticulturalist for more than thirty years, while later telling its stories as a botanical artist. In addition to the creation of Tropiflora, a tropical nursery business, these years yielded exhibits of her botanical watercolors and digital collages at the Bruce Museum of Arts and Sciences, the Smithsonian Institution and Museum of Natural History.

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elephant journal is dedicated to "bringing together those working (and playing) to create enlightened society." We're about anything that helps us to live a good life that's also good for others, and our planet. >>> Founded as a print magazine in 2002, we went national in 2005 and then (because mainstream magazine distribution is wildly inefficient from an eco-responsible point of view) transitioned online in 2009. >>> elephant's been named to 30 top new media lists, and was voted #1 in the US on twitter's Shorty Awards for #green content...two years running. >>> Get involved: > Subscribe to our free Best of the Week e-newsletter. > Follow us on Twitter Fan us on Facebook. > Write: send article or query. > Advertise. > Pay for what you read, help indie journalism survive and thrive—and get your name/business/fave non-profit on every page of elephantjournal.com. Questions? info elephantjournal com

I love seeing great ecology articles like this on elephant. It makes me feel like we're living up to our full mission and potential as a mindful living publication. Interestingly enough, elephant's early history online was rich with eco-articles. It's great to see us getting back to more of that again. Thanks, Alana. I hope this is the first of many from you.